01 February, 2008

maya's cupboard...

we recently moved a little wooden cupboard into our kitchen/dining area for maya because we felt it was important for her to have a space of her own in this area of our house...where she can keep the things that she uses every day and the things that are important to her. she relished filling it up with her things - her bowls and spoons, cutting boards, lyra drawing pencils, stockmar block crayons, paper, modeling beeswax...

and each time we prepare for a meal, she runs to her little cupboard and pulls out her bowl and spoon and gets it ready on her special chair...

she thrives on order and rhythm, like all children do. and it is such a joy to provide this for her. i struggle sometimes keeping a rhythm to our days, but i see how important it is when i look at her enthusiasm and happiness in something so simple. and so i work harder at it. it is this kind of rhythm and routine that helps children, indeed all of us, feel connected to each other and the living world around us.

shelley can i be adopted? seriously, i used to be better about organizing but all the years we've spent remodeling have caused havoc at times, and then we organize some more, and then it gets chaotic again...you are inspiring me to do this again. I used to have my little ones in one room and they had art tables with pencil and paints and scissors and chairs in the middle of their room with a huge open-shelves bookcase against one wall. On this we had cardboard boxes with pictures of toys(before they could read), 1 for puzzles, 1 for cars, 1 for dishes, 1 for blocks, etc.... Excuse me now, I need to go clean up my piles... :)

How wonderfully organized! I'm striving for more rhythm here too and I think a more structured space for Edie's special things would aid in that. Love that cupboard and everything in there! I want to get a playstand to put in her designated part of the house and hopefully that can help store some of her special belongings!

Shelley, you a great inspiraton to me. I discovered your website just recently and since then my house is going through a lot of changes. From every picture I see, I feel such warmth, it is hard to resist not to copy. I really liked Maya's cupboard, my daughter is 3 and I am sure she would benefit from her own space for special things. If you don't mind, could you please share where it comes from. By design of the handles it looks like Camden Rose, but I did not find anything in their catalog. Again, thank you for sharing with all of us.